Free at Last
by Alexis Night
Summary: Peter Pettigrew is a bit more daring, and takes Harry. Sirius rescues Harry, and has to convince his godson that no, he is not a murderer, and no, he will not hurt him.


Sirius Black, a dangerous murderer who had been Harry's father's supposed best friend before he betrayed them, had escaped from Azkaban, the first to ever do so. The mass murderer was supposedly coming to Hogwarts to kill Harry Potter, the boy who lived, and finish the job he had started all those years ago. Harry had been on the lookout for Sirius Black all year, having been reminded over and over again of the imminent danger. But when he woke up bound in a vaugley familiar place, the man who stood watching him was not Sirius Black.

Rage. Pure blinding rage. It was all that could register in the mind of Sirius Black. He had known that the godson he had loved so much was in danger. That had been why he escaped from the torturous place known as Azkaban. But he could not protect Harry as he had sworn to do on the day of the child's birth. Being regaurded as a mass muderer made it difficult to look after his godson properly, and now he was in the hands of the murderous scum, Peter Pettigrew, who had framed him and left little Harry to fend for himself.

The man who had taken him was raving mad, Harry could gather that much. And finally, after a good long while of unintelligable ranting, Harry told him as much.

"You dare call me, the amazing Peter Pettigrew, mad? I'll show you mad! Crucio!" The unbarable pain ripped through Harry with the unforgivable curse. He writhed in pain as the unforgivable was repeatedly thrown his way. And, unfortunately for Peter, the moment Harry could no longer hold back his screams was the moment that the entrance of one Sirius Black was made.

"EXPELLIARMUS!" The enraged cry echoed through the shrieking shack. Harry breathed a sigh of relief as Pettigrew's wand flew away and the pain lessened. He still continued to twitch in his bonds as a part of the after effects of the curse. "HOW DARE YOU," Sirius roared, "LAY A HAND ON MY GODSON!"

Peter cowered at Sirius' feet. "Padfoot! Padfoot, my dear friend, you misunderstand!"

The snivveling of the rat was cut off by another enraged roar. "WHAT IS THERE TO MISUNDERSTAND ABOUT MY GODSON TIED UP ON THE FLOOR BEING CRUCIOED! I SWEAR TO GOD, I'M ABOUT TO COMMIT THE MURDER THEY SENT ME TO AZKABAN FOR!"

Pettigrew's terrified squeaks recommenced. "Please, please Padfoot! You have to believe me! I meant Harry no harm! I wished only to protect him!"

Sirius' rage only grew with the statement. "FOR GOD'S SAKE, YOU WERE CRUCIOING HIM!"

A weakened and frightened voice took Sirius away from the situation at hand. "W-what's going on?'

"Stupefy!" Sirius quickly stunned the other older wizard before turning to his godson, the one reason he had bothered to survive his long wait in Azkaban. "Oh, Harry."

Harry flinched back in fear as the man who had just been rampaging reached a hand out to him. "S-stay away from me."

"Oh, Harry," Sirius sighed again. He should've expected his little godson to be a bit frightened. He had just been kidnapped and tortured, and the adult who had come to rescue him was supposedly a murdering phsycopath bent on his destruction. "I won't hurt you. Here, let me untie you."

Harry hesitantly nodded his concent, and Sirius smiled brightly at the young wizard as he reached out to start untying his ankles. "That man," Harry started, and Sirius looked up to see his godson's contemplative face, "called himself Peter Pettigrew. They told me you killed Peter Pettigrew." His expression darkened. "Right after you betrayed my parents. But he's alive. And you saved me. That doesn't make any sense."

A pained look crossed Sirius' face and he sighed. His beloved godson thought he was a murderer, and the cause of his overall pain in losing his parents. It was a surprise to Harry that Sirius would come to his rescue. It made sense, but it hurt none the less. Sirius reached out a hand and gently carded through Harry's hair. The small boy flinched, before relaxing a bit. He was, after all, starting to have doubts about what he had been told. "Oh, Harry. I didn't kill Peter, and I never betrayed your parents, and I know what you've been told, but it was all Peter," The name was spat like a curse, "and I would never, ever hurt you, Harry. Just the opposite. I was named your godfather when you were born, and I promised that at all costs I would protect you. Please, Harry, you have to believe me."

Hesitantly, Harry nodded. It made sense out of everything that happened to him that day. Grinning, Sirius returned to untying Harry's legs. That was when Snape came in, following on the heels of Harry's two friends, the Weasly boy and the Granger girl. The two children immediately ran to stand between him and Harry. The girl even mustered the courage to push him away from his godson. He only smiled at the act though. They thought he was a mass murderer after all, and Sirius was glad that Harry had friends as good to him three out of four Marauders had been to eachother. He put his hands up and turned back to face Snape, who was pointing his wand at him with what seemed to be satisfied contempt, and surprisingly a good bit of worry. "Step away from the students, Sirius. Mr. Weasley, Ms. Granger, would you be so kind as to untie Mr. Potter."

"It's not-" Sirius started, only to be cut off by Snape.

"I don't want to hear your excuses. Step away from the students before I am forced to make you."

"It's not what you think," Harry insisted on behalf of his godfather. Sirius turned his head to give the boy a small reassuring smile.

Snape rolled his eyes. "Must you always cause a problem, Mr. Potter. You're just like your father, thinking you can run everything. Fifty points from Gryfindor for your insolense and your incessant ability to cause trouble.

Sirius bit back a growl at the way Harry was being treated. He knew that he was in a very precarious position. Harry, however, continued on, clearly used to battling it out with the professor. "It's not what you think. That man over there," Harry indicated with his head, as his friends had been too nervous to take their wands off of Sirius and untie him, which Snape could understand, to the still form in the corner, "is Peter Pettigrew. He murdered those people. He betrayed my parents. And he framed Mr. Black."

"Just call me Sirius, Harry, or even Padfoot. That's what we were trying to get you to call me when you were a baby," the grinning marauder told his godson.

Snape pulled some Veritaserum out of his cloak and cautiosly approched the still form after instructing the two unbound students to keep their wands trained on the suspected murderer. He cast a charm that would allow Pettigrew to speak through his petrification after the Veritaserum was administered and forced the potion down the man's throat. "Did you betray Lily and James Potter, and fake your own death while killing twelve muggles, then frame Sirius Black for all crimes commited."

"Yes," came the monotonous reply.

Ron and Hermione lowered their their wands, and Hermione looked at Sirius a bit regretfully. "Sorry for pushing you, sir."

With a grin and a shake of his head, Sirius eased her worries. "Quite alright. You were only trying to protect Harry, and I greatly appreciate that. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a godson to free."

Levitating Pettigrew, Snape made his way back to the castle with two out of three students in tow. He figured he could at least get Sirius cleared for the misunderstanding. Despite their status as enemies in childhood, Snape would not let an innocent man be thrown back into Azkaban. And so he left Sirius Black, the man they had been trying to protect Harry from all year, to take care of Harry.

Sirius finally got the last knot untied. He frowned at the raw angry rope marks marring the twelve year old's flesh. He covered the abraisians with his own much larger hands that easily wrapped all the way around his godson's skinny wrists. "Are you alright, Harry?"

The baby of the Marauder's looked up at him with a small smile. "I've had worse..."

"Worse!" Sirius exclaimed. "Worse than the Cruciatus curse?" The man was just about frantic at that shocking statement.

Harry winced at the memory. "Maybe not worse than that... But I fought a Basalisk in my first year, and it bit me. Fawkes cried on me and saved my life."

Sirius shook his head. He was concerned for his godson's safety, but he also felt a swell of pride. "We'll make a Marauder out of you yet! Why were you fighting a Basalisk anyways?"

"The Chamber of Secrets was opened," Harry explained, "and Ginny Weasley got pulled in. Ron, Hermione, and our first year DADA teacher went to save her. He was useless though, and he tried to Obliviate us. It backfired though, and now he's even more useless than he was before. Anyway, the tunnel collapsed, and I was on the side with the Basalisk, so I went on to save Ginny myself. Were you a Marauder," Harry asked with a bit of a grin.

Sirius grinned back. "You've heard of us?"

"I had the Marauder's Map until Professor Lupin confiscated it from me."

A hearty laugh followed that comment. "Don't let any lecture he gave you about it bother you. He's Moony, and I myself am Padfoot! We'll get that map back for you at the end of the year." Sirius' mood turned more serious. "Harry, I told you that I'm your godfather. That means that in the event of anything happening to your parents you were supposed to come live with me. And, well, you always have a spot with me, that is if you want it."

Harry launched himself foreward to hug his godfather. "Yes! I would love to come live with you."

The boy tried to pull back, a bit embarrased by his outburst, but Sirius just held him tighter. "I'm so glad, Harry. I'm so glad."

Standing up, Sirius grinned once again at Harry. "I suppose we ought to get you back to the school, then. Can you stand, Harry?" A bit of anger slipped into the Maruader's voice. "The after effects of a Cruiciatus and being bound the way you were has to be a nasty combination." Harry stood shackily, only to start to fall. Sirius wasted no time in catching him. "That would be a no, then."

Hefting his godson into his arms, Sirius headed out of the Shrieking Shack. Harry blushed at needing to be carried. "Sorry."

Sirius held him a bit tighter. "You've got no reason to be, kiddo. Don't you worry about a thing."

Albus Dumbledor met them at the gates of the castle to let them know that Sirius was in fact cleared and to give the older wizard back his wand. Sirius gave Albus the wand he had stolen from a student to use and carried Harry up to the hospital wing. He got terrified looks from students who still didn't know he was innocent, but he was unfased. Thankfully, Madame Pomfrey had been informed of the situation, and paid no further mind to Sirius, tending only to his godson who he had placed on the nearest availiable bed.

Not much later, Remus Lupin entered the hospital wing. He ran up to his old friend. "I'm so, so sorry that I believed the Arors all those years ago, Padfoot. Can you ever forgive me?"

"I already have, Moony. I already have." The two men embraced like brothers before moving over to the bed of the boy they both equally loved. Madame Pomfrey had put him under a sedative to alleviate the residual pain he was still feeling from the Cruciatus. "You know, I'm going to get custody of Harry as soon as I can now that I'm out. He'll start calling you Uncle Moony. It'll be almost how it should've been with James and Lily." Remus grinned at the thought. It sounded perfect, their little family togeather again at last.

Madame Pomfrey interupted the heartfelt reunion to update them on Harry's condition. "Overall he should be fine, but Harry does have a few minor injuries. His left shoulder was dislocated, presumably from being dropped on the floor while his hands were tied behind his back, he has rope burns on his wrists and ankles, his ankle is broken, and of course he's feeling the after effects of the Cruciatus curse."

Sirius growled. "Why on earth did Pettigrew feel the need to tie him up? It's no wonder the kid couldn't walk!"

Remus finally came out of his shock. His wide, disbelieving eyes turned very very angry. "He Cruicioed him!"

"I know," Sirius growled. He could see the wolf rising in Remus, and he knew the man would love nothing more than to run into their old "friend" on the full moon.

Before anything more could be said, Harry started to stir. "Padfoot?... Where am I?"

Relieved, Sirius moved a bit closer to his godson, brushing the hair out of the boy's face and placing his glasses over his eyes. "You're in the hospital wing. You're a bit the worse for ware, but nothing that couldn't be fixed. Madame Pomfrey's already relocated your shoulder and healed your ankle, but the more minor injuries will have to heal themselves with a bit of time."

The other Marauder moved over to his friend and his as good as nephew. "How are you feeling, Harry? How's a bit of chocolate. It can help with more than just Dementours." Remus winked.

Harry greatfully accepted the sweet. "I feel fine, thank you Proffessor."

"That's Moony to you outside of class," Remus grinned. "Speaking of which, now that we don't have to worry about Padfoot trying to use it to locate you or lure you out of the castle, I think I can give you this back."

"Ah, the next generation of Marauder!" Sirius could barely contain his excitement. "We'll have to come up with a nickname for you! You, me, your Uncle Moony! It'll be great!"

A smile graced Harry's features, and both men were greatful. Remus however, could not get the fact that Harry had been tortured with the Cruciatus out of his mind. "Are you sure you're alright, Harry? Nasty thing, the Cruciatus curse."

Harry winced at the mention, but smiled none the less. "I'm fine Prof- Uncle Moony."

None of them could remember ever being happier.


End file.
